Mindfulness & Psychotherapy

21 Days of Purpose: A Free eCourse for Uncovering Happiness

by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

You have a purpose in being here…
… and part of that is remembering that you are part of something much larger than yourself.

Science and thousands of years of human experience are showing us a feeling of connection to something greater than ourselves gives us a heightened sense of well-being and resiliency. In short, it’s a natural antidepressant.

I want to invite you to an experiment based on practices in my new book, Uncovering Happiness, that can help you nurture this positive shift in your brain and positively impact the world around you.

Over the next 21 days you’ll be guided through something very simple and profound; discovering a prosocial purpose and turning your purpose into a verb.

The structure for this is loose; there is nothing strict or rigid about this program. The intention of the following 21 days is to deepen your connection to purpose and compassion in your own life and get some support in the process.

Each day you’ll receive a writing to reflect on to light up the compassionate brain. You’ll then be reminded of these three key questions from Uncovering Happiness to help keep you focused and on track:

What pro-social purpose are you involved in?

What action can I take today that is in line with this purpose?

What is this action in service of that is greater than myself?

I recommend weaving in some of the attitudes of play from Uncovering Happiness in order not to get overly serious about the whole endeavor, see it more from a learning lens and make it a playful endeavor.

A very wise woman once told me,
“If something is valuable, give it away.”

That may sound strange, but I understand what she means. As we give away what is valuable, we inevitably get back something invaluable.

If you’re wondering what that is, take a leap to commit to 21 Days of Purpose and discover it for yourself.

Commit to 21 Days of Purpose Now!

You can try this experiment on your own, or it can be fun to do with friends. Let others know what you’re up to and see the ripple effects of a group doing 21 Days of Purpose together. Share it:

We are asking people to reflect on their experiences here to let us know how it’s going. Feel free to post about the purpose your engaging, or write about it on your own blog. Comments here are welcome from anyone.

7 Comments

what prosocial purpose am I focusing on? LISTENING AND LIFTING UP OTHERS.
what action can I take today that is in line with this purpose? TAKE TIME TO CALL OR TEXT A FRIEND OR LOVED ONE, ASK THEM HOW THEY ARE DOING, WHAT HAVE THEY BEEN UP TO, TELL THEM THAT THEY INSPIRE YOU AND YOU’RE HERE FOR THEM WHATEVER THEY NEED
what is this action in service of that is greater than self? I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO OPRAH’S SUPER SOUL CONVERSATIONS ON PODCAST, CHURCH AND SOLIDIFYING FAITH WHATEVER THAT MAY BE FOR YOU, READING A LOT OF SELF-HELP AND WELL-BEING BOOKS BY AUTHORS SUCH AS MAYA ANGELOU AND BRENE BROWN

1. Pro-social purpose
Revitalized a community garden last year. This year, tapped two different individuals to serve as new leads and I’ll continue to help by serving as an advisor. i hope to help individuals on SNAP learn to grow their own food. I believe that growing teaches self-reliance, develops self-confidence, and leads to healthier lives.
2. Action today
Writing short docx to help the new leads be aware of developing accountability in handling responsibilities, especially finances. Will also address the importance of building relationships. This will serve only as last year’s model; they can develop their own methods going forward.
3. Service greater than myself
I’m hoping this will make it easier for the leads to navigate the bumps and move forward in a pleasant, fluid fashion.

1. Prosocial….love to self and others. Acceptance. Understanding.
2. Smile, intuition, self help….always honesty.
3. The ripple effect. Extending love and truth to world, one person at a time. Acceptance and understanding. Starting with myself. Hoping children will have more caring parents….from love not fear. That people will love themselves and see value in self. Then peace will be dominant. Acceptance and understanding….this to me, is love….really from within. I can only give from what I have….it has to start with me.

Pro-social purpose I am working on : I am working on being an advocate for the daily lives of people with disabilities in their home.
I am working on keeping the ideals of these individuals claiming their lives and their homes.
What action can I take today that is in line with this purpose? : Today I want to involve my clients in decorating and cleaning their home. Halloween is coming and should be a fun holiday. I would like to clean up the back yard and introduce lighting and citronella so the space can be enjoyed more fully. I want us to create warm welcoming spaces in their home. Maybe I can start the conversation and action towards this goal.
What is this action in service that is greater than myself?: This one is a hard one because I become excited to transform a space to be more enjoyable. Which is telling me I take pride in this task when the task should not be about me. This should be in service to the people who live there. I believe the people who live would enjoy little lights in the yard and I also believe the staff will appreciate it. I hope that the staff as well as the resident will be uplifted by these small additions. I hope my actions will spur others to do what they have possibly wanted to do to help others but perhaps felt it would not be welcomed. Lets bring more acts of kindness into our world and the world of those who cannot speak out for themselves. 🙂

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